Perfecting Roast Chicken

More often than not, if we are eating chicken in my house, it is from a whole roasted chicken. I find boneless, skinless chicken breasts to also be rather tasteless, but they can be transformed into something moist and delicious by roasting a whole chicken. Plus, I like using the leftovers to make other dishes – salads, soups, enchiladas, etc… With chicken, the options are limitless.

So, last week when I had a couple friends over (well, one friend and one sister), I was really excited to try out my new roasting pan with a whole chicken.

Also, please note that everything I served that night was beige in color: pasta, braised cabbage, chicken, and bread.  It was a sad realization halfway through cooking that I was way too lazy to go to the store to get a green salad.  Luckily my guests didn’t seem to mind.

Okay, back to the chicken.  I have tried roasting chicken quite a few ways and think I have settled on a perfect method. I have one of those William Sonoma cookbooks (which are really great – I have the soup, salad, paninis and chicken versions). It suggest you roast the chicken on each side before flipping it onto its back to get consistent browning. It is a little tricky to grab that whole chicken without the stuffing falling out, but it works really well to get a nice color.

The key to a great roast chicken actually happens the day before you cook it. As soon as I get my chicken defrosted or from the market, I take about a tablespoon of salt and rub it on the entire outside and the inside cavity.  A lot of times I add some pepper here too, but salt is the key.   The salt somehow keeps the meat juicy while cooking – I am guessing something about osmosis, but I don’t feel like going all chemistry nerd on you.

Right before cooking, I make a compound butter – a mixture of softened, unsalted butter, herbs, and minced garlic – and get that under the skin of the chicken. I wish I had a picture of this (damn buttery hands!), because this part seems odd if you have never done it.  When you get a whole chicken, put it on it’s back and find where the neck used to be.  This is a good place to start because there is extra loose skin.  Lift up a bit of the skin and notice the way it separates from the meat.  I often hold up the skin with my left hand and stick my right hand right between the skin and the meat, loosening the connective tissue.  I am not gonna lie, this part is sort of gross, but it does make a delicious chicken!  Anyway, continue to loosen the skin and start placing your butter in the new space you created.  You could do this just around the breast, but I like to get some in the legs and back.

Finally, you want to stuff your bird with some aromatics to add flavor to the meat. I use onions, carrots, celery, and fresh herbs or sometimes some cut lemon halves.

To cook, I use a v-shaped rack in a roasting pan, but I have also used a regular roasting pan (the ones that come with every oven) and even a dutch oven first covered in chopped onion to prevent the bird from sticking to the bottom of the pan.  The latter two methods work, but sometimes the skin still sticks and your bird comes away looking a little battered.

Oh, and apparently most people truss their chicken by tying the legs together and tucking the wings behind the back.  I guess I have time to salt the chicken a day before, make a compound butter and put it between the skin and meat, and stuff it with aromatics, but I don’t have time to tie the legs together.  I stand behind my choices!

Roast Chicken
Chicken (6 lb bird)
1 tbsp salt (plus more if needed)
1/2 tbsp pepper
2 tbsp softened, unsalted butter
1 minced garlic clove
About 6 twigs of thyme or rosemary left whole except 1 tbsp chopped
1 cup of chopped onion
1 chopped carrot
1 chopped celery stick

At least 24 hours ahead (and up to 3 days on an extra fresh chicken) and add salt and pepper rub. Thoroughly salt the outside as well as the inside cavity.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine softened butter, chopped thyme or rosemary, and garlic clove in a small dish. Carefully loosen the skin and place the butter compound in between the skin and the meat. Work your way down to the legs, being careful not to tear the skin. When done, stuff the inside cavity of the bird with the onions, carrots, celery and remaining herbs. Truss chicken if you aren’t lazy like me.

Place chicken on its side in the roasting rack (if you are not using rack, be sure to grease the pan or put down a layer of chopped onions so the skin doesn’t stick). Put in the oven for a half hour. Turn the bird on its other side and cook for another 30 minutes. Finally, place the bird on its back (breasts up) and continue cooking for about 45 minutes or until a thermometer placed in the biggest part of the thigh measures 170 (it will increase temperature another 10 degrees or so while it rests).

Let rest and serve!